Roughstuff's World Bicycle Tour Page

Completely Revised and updated July 1, 2008!!!
Dozens of new photos on the way

Two "bicycles" given to me as Gifts over the years.

Don't be on of those cyclists who has to travel 3000 miles away from home on a tour in order to feel you spent your time wisely and saw beauty. The world is full of people who have been to other continents, countries, cultures and cauldrons but can't even say they have visited the geologic and natural wonders in their own backyards. I have fought against this pyschology for a very long time. Two of my tours---the canadian maritimes, and this one, the northeast USA---were designed to spend full time in our beautiful appalachians.

You can find photos and other exciting details about Franks ongoing tour right here!
Watch this high tech guru run a thriving internet service business all the while riding across the USA to Taos New Mexico!

I have more photos from round the world below!

You can part of this site as well. If you have photos and stories to
share send them to and I can incorporate them into this network. In the meantime, enjoy!
I'll update my photos and flashbacks on a regular basis. Bookmark this site now to keep abreast of changes and improvements.

For starters, read an ongoing, wideranging interview with Roughstuff, about his trip, his mind, his soul. What a world cycling tour is really all about. Humorous, serious, informative!
Click here to have a look.

My bike tour was highlighted in Stars and Stripes, the military newpaper. Have a look at some monstrous photos of my world cycling tour. All these photos are over 500 KB in size, so if your connection is slow, you'll have to be very patient. The photos further down are much smaller.

The high alps of the St. Bernard Pass into Switzerland make for pleasant viewing.

Bow Pass on Canada's icefields parkway is dominated by a mountain which gives it its name.

This small cafe east of Innsbruck Austria, gave me some great coffee and conversation.

You don't have to ride a bicycle on the Karakoram highway in Pakistan! Try a camel instead?

My second crossing of the Andes, back into Chile at Cristo Redentor, was a wet and chilly one.

Deceptively calm amidst a quiet Turkish morning, the Euphrates has traditionally been the boundary between east and west.

I crossed into Vietnam from Laos over the highlands which were once used to shell Khesanh during the Vietnam War.

Wanna see my military escort I told you about in my article? Click here to see them in their grim, but pleasant, welcoming demeanor.

Eastern Turkey's Kurdish regions are a delicate balance between acceptance and unrest.

This world tour was my first time crossing the
Pyrenees. I was not disappointed.

This page is under construction even as you read this, so links and subpages referred to below will be added almost on a daily basis. For now there are two ways you can read about my tours.

my Outline. Follow me from the windswept tundras of Alaska to the deserts of Chile's Atacama. Read about Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua...killer bees in Mexico...a total solar eclipse in Turkey...a military coup in Pakistan..the Grand Trunk road in India...wild fires in Southeast Asia. The outline covers my world tour chronologically, from pretrip preparation, to end of trip product evaluations. Use this outline if you want to prepare for a trip yourself, or read about one part of my journey in more detail. Just click on the relevant highlighted outline portion and off you'll go to text, photos, essays, FAQ's, links and other wonderful things about the region of the world you have selected. You are welcome to submit your own material, sites, and photos. I'll gladly include them here.

I also have a vast selection of photos I have from my numerous cycle tours. Enjoy the scenery that cyclists see every day in the saddle! Enjoy the short story that accompanies each photo, too.

This is not the only bicycle tour page on the internet. When you are done, have a look at some of these pages. They might even as be as good as mine!

Roughstuff's World Cycle Tour Outline

I am working on this even as you now read it. Please be patient while I add the JPGs, links and text. You will notice that i am starting in Asia and working backwards.

(I) So! You're thinking of a bicycle tour...
(IA) Pre-trip philosophy , musings and planning started months before I left.
(IB) What did I think about before I left on my trip? You might be surprised.
(II) The Compleat Biker: clothing from head to toe.
(III) THe Compleat Bike: equipment and gadgets to look for
(IV) Livin' and cycling on the road: Roughie's tips.
(V) Purple Mountain Majesties:the first 10 weeks.